


drown my demons

by schnaf



Series: im-prompt-u challenge [5]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Demon!Dan, M/M, ambiguous ending, today.......... i needed to honor the spirit of halloween ig, well. maybe tomorrow i'll be back with the feels, whoops i accidentally dropped the feels bag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schnaf/pseuds/schnaf
Summary: Whenever Phil feels all alone, he knows he can rely on Dan. But maybe he shouldn't. And apparently, demons know how to swim.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: im-prompt-u challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969618
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: Im-PROMPT-u Phandom Creator Challenge 2020





	drown my demons

**Author's Note:**

> maybe i'm ten years late announcing it in public, but oh boy, the lyrics "i can't drown my demons, they know how to swim" S L A P.

The sound of static in the air. A light crackle, as if someone crumbled a piece of paper - just a faint, little sound, but Phil catches it nevertheless. There are smells too; the lingering smell of blood, so sweet yet metallic, the smell of paper burning between his fingers, singing his fingertips.

Phil is on edge, he's hyper focused, his senses are sharpened, he takes in every single detail. And yet, there's no way to describe what’s happening next. The change in the atmosphere, something that raises the hair on his arms. Static, again, but this time, it isn't just a sound anymore, it's a feeling, it's -

Then, Phil opens his eyes and immediately sighs with relief. "You're here."

There's a guy sitting right in front of him, across the bed, smiling at him. No, not 'a guy' - it's Dan and just seeing him makes Phil feel so relieved, makes him feel like someone took a weight off his shoulders. Immediately, he eyes Dan up, rediscovering the familiar features.

His soft smile. The dimple. Brown curls, seemingly chaotic and yet, not a single strand of hair is out of place. His eyes - they're black, just plain black, no pupil visible because the iris is black too. Oh, Phil still remembers how that scared the shit out of him the first time he saw Dan's eyes, but damn, he actually grew to like them. It's cute, somehow.

Dan doesn't smile for long, though. Phil feels like he allows him a moment to catch up with him, to just look at him, but then his smile turns mischievous. "Sure I'm here. Did you doubt I'd come?"

Of course, Phil rolls his eyes at Dan immediately. The first thing he does upon arrival is mock him? This little...

Still, he can't help but feel giddy about it. Teasing is part of their relationship, is part of the reason they get along so well. That's why he keeps up the pretense. "You never know. What if they fired you?"

Dan laughs and - again, there's more to it. It's fond, somehow, and Phil can't help but smile. Oh, it was such a good decision to invite Dan, that's for sure.

But then, Dan gets all serious. "Let me guess: Shit went down?"

No trace of mockery anymore. Dan sounds so sympathetic, so soft, and oh, Phil would love to just let go, to just give in and cry. Nevertheless, he musters up a smile. "Yeah. Y'know, the usual shit. The same old homophobic shit." He shuts his eyes, trying to hold the tears back.

"Oof. Do you wanna talk about it? Or..." Thus, Dan's sympathetic facial expression disappears and somehow, Phil is a bit glad about it. Of course he's glad about Dan being compassionate, but it's almost overwhelming at the same time. Makes his worries even more real, somehow.

On top of that, Dan's next move is more appealing. He stretches, his black jumper slipping upwards a bit, revealing a piece of white skin and of course, Phil's gaze focuses on it immediately.

Dan's grin tells him it wasn't as casual, as unintended as he made it look. His voice does even more so - the seductive overtone, the way he lowers it. "I mean, I haven't been around in a while."

Oh, of course talking doesn't sound that bad. Even Dan's presence helped him relax a bit, made him feel less lonely - and he already knows that Dan is an amazing listener, even better at giving advice and simply unbeatable at comforting him. But there's something that sounds even better and that's -

Phil moves forward, a swift movement - still, it doesn't seem to surprise Dan. He keeps grinning at him, even when Phil pushes him on his back, even when Phil pins down his wrists down on the mattress. And his husky murmur makes Phil hard immediately.

"So predictable..."

~*~*~

Phil trembles. His hand clutches onto his towel, his fingers, his knuckles already hurting but he can't let go, he can't relax, he - It's so difficult to breathe, every single breath hurts, every single breath feels like he needs to force it out of his lungs.

No. No, no, no. He's been good, he's been good for so long. This can't be happening, not to him, not now, not -

He had no malicious thoughts, he really didn't. All Phil wanted to do was to have a nice day at the beach, just hanging out with friends, he wouldn't cross the line, he didn't even think of crossing the line. But then, there was this couple, just walking along the beach, arms around each other and whereas Phil's buddies made eyes at the pretty, petite woman, Phil just couldn't stop staring at the guy, at his trained body, at his confident smile, at -

He's been good for so long. All for naught?

The couple is long gone, Phil's friends went over to the beach volleyball court. But Phil's still there, still clutching to the towel, still feeling like his heart got ripped out, still feeling like -

A movement catches his attention, a movement at the corner of his eyes. He lifts his head, following the movement and -

No. No, no, no. But - yes, of course, of course he'd be here, after all, he's the fucking reason for this shit, he's -

He's his demon. He's the personification of Phil's biggest mistake.

Suddenly, Phil feels able to move again. The towel slips out of his hands, he straightens his back, Then he gets up without hesitation. Even though he doesn't know what he's doing, he - he knows what to do. He knows he needs to do something. Fuck, he just can't stand it anymore, he fought it for so long, the fucking demon was gone for so long. There's no way he can just show up like that and now that he's done it, Phil needs to react.

The water is splashing to all sides as he wades into the sea. It's cold, it's really cold but Phil can't take care of that right now. He needs to get to the demon who's still floating on the water carelessly, paddling with his arms when he's about to sink.

As he's just a few feet away, the demon lifts his head. His curls are wet, not curly anymore, just dripping strands of hair but his eyes are the same, the same contrastless black, so deep, so unreal and yet familiar and his dimple is there too, just like his smile, and - the attraction too.

No.

Phil leaps forward and suddenly, he knows what he's doing, he knows what exactly he has to do. The demon's smile disappears as he puts his hands around his throat, as he starts squeezing, as he pushes his head underwater.

He pops up immediately, though, spluttering, staring at Phil as if he had lost his mind. (Maybe he has. Oh, he has for sure - but it happened long ago and now he's trying to regain his sanity.) "Phil, don't -"

"Shut up!" Phil pushes again and again, the demon's head submerges. He can feel his throat twitching against his fingers.

Phil's voice is barely more than a whisper. And still it rings in his ears.

"Shut up, Dan."


End file.
